femtos.

working on your components.

laser cutting

High-precision components require the most advanced laser processes. At femtos, we are working with ultrashort pulsed lasers only to ensure maximum precision and minimum material damage in just one process. We can produce batches of some up to some hundred parts according to your needs and specifications.

post processing

Our laser process eliminates the need of post processing. If it is needed to ensure the components full functionality and properties we offer pickling, electro polishing and heat treatment to suit your expectations.

process development

Most laser micromachining applications cannot be implemented straightforward. Sometimes process development takes weeks or even months.

To build a laser process that produces the desired results, different laser parameters, beam shaping and focussing solutions have to be tested. Any material can have different behaviour (heat sensitivity, hardness, brittleness, compositions, etc.) which have to be taken into account. On the other hand the desired processing speed, resulting accuracy and amount of debris to be matched with the expectations. If necessary, we will involve our academic partners. You are welcome to contact us with your micromachining tasks. We are your competent partner in developing a micromachining process for you, transfer or license the needed expertise and help you in selection and building an appropriate laser machine.

feasibility studies

You need to fabricate structures with dimension in the microns scale out of flats or tubes? Maybe you are already disappointed from other techniques? We are equipped with ultra-short pulse lasers (300 femtoseconds to 10 picoseconds) and will test the machining on any of your materials.

In an initial state a test plan is determined. After the first experiments we will provide a report on machinability and processing speed. If necessary further research is planned and executed.

quality control

At femtos we are seeking for the highest quality to satisfy our customers and our ambition for perfection. That is why we established a DIN ISO 13485 certified QM-system in 2016. Quality conformance tests are carried out using various microscopes, SEM and other high-end measurement devices as agreed with our customers.

metallic stents

At femtos we are experienced in the manufacturing of metallic stents. These can be cut from tubes of diameters from less than 0.5 mm up to 10.0 mm. All materials can be machined and we also offer adapted post processing if desired or required.

polymer stents

Recently bioresorbable Materials like PLLA gained more attention. Stents and other devices made from these material can be machined at femtos without "significant degradation to the material due to laser cutting or any other means".

surface structuring/ engraving

As ultrashort laser pulses do not deposit any heat into the machined material they can ideally be used to machine 2.5D structures by engraving.

about

femtos GmbH is a spin-off of Ruhr-University Bochum. The focus of work are laser processes for medical engineering, whereat we make use of the benefits of ultrashort pulsed lasers only. Our services do not only cover development of laser processes and job shop; we also offer required post processing like pickling, electro polishing and heat treatment.

technology

Ultrashort laser pulses with durations of some picoseconds (10-12 seconds) or less show different interactions with matter than longer pulses do. Long laser pulses are absorbed at the electrons, then these transfer their energy to the lattice which takes a characteristic time of approximately several hundred picoseconds.

Energy in the lattice is known as heat: the material is heated until it melts, then the melted mass is blown away by process gases. But as the laser pulses are shorter than the characteristic time for the energy transfer this process cannot take place, the material is removed before the lattice heats up.

As a result, components can be machined without significant heat input into the material, which enables smaller structures as no heat-affected zone occurs. To ensure a constant high quality process parameters have to be chosen carefully

benefits

We have short ways in communication, are fully focused on our customers, produce in the highest accuracy, are highly innovative and we deliver full-service from development to final or serial production.

femtos@MEDTEC Europe 2016

We are pleased to invite you to visit femtos at our booth in Stuttgart at MEDTEC Europe 2016. From April 12-14, we will be located at booth 7B47.Visit us and find out how we can machine tubing and flats, including post processing like pickling or electro polishing. We look forward to welcoming you in Stuttgart!

04.01.2016

Interview on COMPAMED.de

Right after the COMPAMED 2015 Dr. Benjamin Schöps was interviewed on ultrashort pulsed laser machining in medical device manufacturing and it benefits. Read the full text here.